Podcasts about Canadian Medical Association Journal

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his country will recognize Palestinian statehood next month. 5 Al Jazeera journalists killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza. More structures destroyed in Newfoundland as Kingston fire grows to more than 5,000 hectares. Wildfire spreading rapidly on outskirts of Moncton. New article in Canadian Medical Association Journal warns about risks of cannabis psychosis. US President Donald Trump says he wants to crackdown on crime in Washington D.C. by moving people who are homeless out. A behind-the-scenes look at the shipwreck clean-up effort in Lark Harbour, Newfoundland.

Die Themen in den Wissensnachrichten +++ Forschende aus Kanada beobachten höheres Psychose-Risiko beim Kiffen +++ Thüringer Forschende beanspruchen ältesten Bratwurst-Stand für Erfurt +++ Wenn KI-Antworten zu Salz zur Vergiftung führen +++**********Weiterführende Quellen zu dieser Folge:Cannabis and psychosis. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 11.08.2025Geschichte der Bratwurst. Zeitleiste vom Deutschen Bratwurstmuseum im Mühlhausen/ThüringenA Case of Bromism Influenced by Use of Artificial Intelligence. Annuals of Internal Medicine: Clinical Cases, 05.08.2025Contribution of lake littoral zones to the continental carbon budget. Nature Geoscience, 04.08.2025Global recruitment patterns and placebo responses in clinical trials of rheumatoid arthritis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 01.08.2025Alle Quellen findet ihr hier.**********Ihr könnt uns auch auf diesen Kanälen folgen: TikTok und Instagram .

In this episode we're opening our mailbag to answer three fascinating questions from our listeners. How did “ass,” a word for donkeys and butts, become what linguists call an “intensifier” for just about everything? How do pharmaceuticals get their wacky names? And why do we all seem to think that aliens from outer space would travel to Earth just to kidnap our cows? In this episode, you'll hear from linguistics professor Nicole Holliday, historians Greg Eghigian and Mike Goleman, and professional “namer” Laurel Sutton. This episode of Decoder Ring was produced by Willa Paskin, Max Freedman, and Katie Shepherd. Our supervising producer is Evan Chung. Merritt Jacob is Slate's Technical Director.  If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281. Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen. Sources for This Episode Bengston, Jonas. “Post-Intensifying: The Case of the Ass-Intensifier and Its Similar but Dissimilar Danish Counterpart,” Leviathan, 2021. Collier, Roger. “The art and science of naming drugs,” Canadian Medical Association Journal, Oct. 2014. Eghigian, Greg. After the Flying Saucers Came: A Global History of the UFO Phenomenon, Oxford University Press, 2024. Goleman, Michael J. “Wave of Mutilation: The Cattle Mutilation Phenomenon of the 1970s,” Agricultural History, 2011. Karet, Gail B. “How Do Drugs Get Named?” AMA Journal of Ethics, Aug. 2019. Miller, Wilson J. “Grammaticalizaton in English: A Diachronic and Synchronic Analysis of the "ass" Intensifier,” Master's Thesis, San Francisco State University, 2017. Monroe, Rachel. “The Enduring Panic About Cow Mutilations,” The New Yorker, May 8, 2023. A Strange Harvest, dir. Linda Moulton Howe, KMGH-TV, 1980. “United States Adopted Names naming guidelines,” AMA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we're opening our mailbag to answer three fascinating questions from our listeners. How did “ass,” a word for donkeys and butts, become what linguists call an “intensifier” for just about everything? How do pharmaceuticals get their wacky names? And why do we all seem to think that aliens from outer space would travel to Earth just to kidnap our cows? In this episode, you'll hear from linguistics professor Nicole Holliday, historians Greg Eghigian and Mike Goleman, and professional “namer” Laurel Sutton. This episode of Decoder Ring was produced by Willa Paskin, Max Freedman, and Katie Shepherd. Our supervising producer is Evan Chung. Merritt Jacob is Slate's Technical Director.  If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281. Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen. Sources for This Episode Bengston, Jonas. “Post-Intensifying: The Case of the Ass-Intensifier and Its Similar but Dissimilar Danish Counterpart,” Leviathan, 2021. Collier, Roger. “The art and science of naming drugs,” Canadian Medical Association Journal, Oct. 2014. Eghigian, Greg. After the Flying Saucers Came: A Global History of the UFO Phenomenon, Oxford University Press, 2024. Goleman, Michael J. “Wave of Mutilation: The Cattle Mutilation Phenomenon of the 1970s,” Agricultural History, 2011. Karet, Gail B. “How Do Drugs Get Named?” AMA Journal of Ethics, Aug. 2019. Miller, Wilson J. “Grammaticalizaton in English: A Diachronic and Synchronic Analysis of the "ass" Intensifier,” Master's Thesis, San Francisco State University, 2017. Monroe, Rachel. “The Enduring Panic About Cow Mutilations,” The New Yorker, May 8, 2023. A Strange Harvest, dir. Linda Moulton Howe, KMGH-TV, 1980. “United States Adopted Names naming guidelines,” AMA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we're opening our mailbag to answer three fascinating questions from our listeners. How did “ass,” a word for donkeys and butts, become what linguists call an “intensifier” for just about everything? How do pharmaceuticals get their wacky names? And why do we all seem to think that aliens from outer space would travel to Earth just to kidnap our cows? In this episode, you'll hear from linguistics professor Nicole Holliday, historians Greg Eghigian and Mike Goleman, and professional “namer” Laurel Sutton. This episode of Decoder Ring was produced by Willa Paskin, Max Freedman, and Katie Shepherd. Our supervising producer is Evan Chung. Merritt Jacob is Slate's Technical Director.  If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281. Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen. Sources for This Episode Bengston, Jonas. “Post-Intensifying: The Case of the Ass-Intensifier and Its Similar but Dissimilar Danish Counterpart,” Leviathan, 2021. Collier, Roger. “The art and science of naming drugs,” Canadian Medical Association Journal, Oct. 2014. Eghigian, Greg. After the Flying Saucers Came: A Global History of the UFO Phenomenon, Oxford University Press, 2024. Goleman, Michael J. “Wave of Mutilation: The Cattle Mutilation Phenomenon of the 1970s,” Agricultural History, 2011. Karet, Gail B. “How Do Drugs Get Named?” AMA Journal of Ethics, Aug. 2019. Miller, Wilson J. “Grammaticalizaton in English: A Diachronic and Synchronic Analysis of the "ass" Intensifier,” Master's Thesis, San Francisco State University, 2017. Monroe, Rachel. “The Enduring Panic About Cow Mutilations,” The New Yorker, May 8, 2023. A Strange Harvest, dir. Linda Moulton Howe, KMGH-TV, 1980. “United States Adopted Names naming guidelines,” AMA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we're opening our mailbag to answer three fascinating questions from our listeners. How did “ass,” a word for donkeys and butts, become what linguists call an “intensifier” for just about everything? How do pharmaceuticals get their wacky names? And why do we all seem to think that aliens from outer space would travel to Earth just to kidnap our cows? In this episode, you'll hear from linguistics professor Nicole Holliday, historians Greg Eghigian and Mike Goleman, and professional “namer” Laurel Sutton. This episode of Decoder Ring was produced by Willa Paskin, Max Freedman, and Katie Shepherd. Our supervising producer is Evan Chung. Merritt Jacob is Slate's Technical Director.  If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281. Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen. Sources for This Episode Bengston, Jonas. “Post-Intensifying: The Case of the Ass-Intensifier and Its Similar but Dissimilar Danish Counterpart,” Leviathan, 2021. Collier, Roger. “The art and science of naming drugs,” Canadian Medical Association Journal, Oct. 2014. Eghigian, Greg. After the Flying Saucers Came: A Global History of the UFO Phenomenon, Oxford University Press, 2024. Goleman, Michael J. “Wave of Mutilation: The Cattle Mutilation Phenomenon of the 1970s,” Agricultural History, 2011. Karet, Gail B. “How Do Drugs Get Named?” AMA Journal of Ethics, Aug. 2019. Miller, Wilson J. “Grammaticalizaton in English: A Diachronic and Synchronic Analysis of the "ass" Intensifier,” Master's Thesis, San Francisco State University, 2017. Monroe, Rachel. “The Enduring Panic About Cow Mutilations,” The New Yorker, May 8, 2023. A Strange Harvest, dir. Linda Moulton Howe, KMGH-TV, 1980. “United States Adopted Names naming guidelines,” AMA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggests that long wait times for hip and knee replacement surgeries in Canada — affecting about one in three patients — could be significantly reduced by implementing a centralized, team-based referral system instead of turning to private clinics. Guest: Dr. David Urbich - Study Author and Head of the Department of Surgery at Women's College Hospital in Toronto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In parts 1 and 2 we looked into a 2018 journal article called Management of osteoarthritis of the knee in younger patients by Khan, Adili, Winemaker, and Bhandari. It turns out we aren't the only ones looking into it. As I was finishing up this piece, I was googling to make sure I had a list of all the links I used in the piece (while I don't include links to pieces with weight stigma here, I always keep a list in my draft,) I stumbled onto a letter responding to the Khan et al. article called “Is it weight loss or exercise that matters in osteoarthritis?” by Ilona Hale, MD, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, which is the same journal that published the Khan et al. article. Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/subscribe

Le pamplemousse est un fruit aux multiples bienfaits, riche en vitamine C et en antioxydants. Pourtant, il peut devenir dangereux lorsqu'il est consommé avec certains médicaments. Ce phénomène est bien documenté en pharmacologie et repose sur son interaction avec une enzyme clé du métabolisme des médicaments.Un effet sur le métabolisme des médicamentsLe principal problème du pamplemousse vient de sa capacité à inhiber une enzyme du foie et de l'intestin, appelée cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4). Cette enzyme joue un rôle majeur dans la dégradation de nombreux médicaments avant leur passage dans la circulation sanguine. En bloquant son action, le pamplemousse empêche le métabolisme normal de ces substances, ce qui peut entraîner une accumulation excessive du médicament dans l'organisme et augmenter le risque d'effets secondaires graves.Quels médicaments sont concernés ?De nombreuses classes de médicaments sont affectées, notamment :- Les statines (anti-cholestérol) : Une étude publiée dans The American Journal of Medicine (1998) a montré que la consommation de jus de pamplemousse pouvait augmenter jusqu'à 15 fois la concentration de certaines statines (simvastatine, atorvastatine). Cela accroît le risque d'effets secondaires comme des douleurs musculaires, voire des atteintes musculaires sévères (rhabdomyolyse).- Les antihypertenseurs : Une recherche menée en 2012 dans The Canadian Medical Association Journal a démontré que le pamplemousse augmentait la concentration de certains inhibiteurs calciques (comme l'amlodipine et le félodipine), entraînant une chute excessive de la pression artérielle et des risques de vertiges ou de syncope.- Les immunosuppresseurs (utilisés après une greffe) et certains anxiolytiques (comme le triazolam) sont également impactés, avec un risque de toxicité accru.Combien de temps dure l'effet du pamplemousse ?L'effet inhibiteur du pamplemousse sur le CYP3A4 peut durer jusqu'à 72 heures après ingestion. Cela signifie qu'il ne suffit pas d'espacer la prise du médicament et la consommation du fruit ; il est préférable de l'éviter complètement si votre traitement est concerné.ConclusionLe pamplemousse peut perturber le métabolisme de nombreux médicaments en augmentant leur concentration sanguine, ce qui accroît les effets secondaires et la toxicité. Il est donc essentiel de lire les notices et de demander conseil à un professionnel de santé avant de consommer ce fruit si vous prenez un traitement. Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

Join Drs. Stephanie Hartman and Abby Drucker as they discuss the history of medical quackery, pseudoscience and current challenges in today's medical practice with Dr. Lydia Kang. Dr. Kang is an author of young adult fiction, adult fiction and non-fiction, and poetry. She is a practicing physician and Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at Nebraska Medicine who has gained a reputation for helping fellow writers achieve medical accuracy in fiction. Her poetry and non-fiction have been published in JAMA, The Annals of Internal Medicine, Canadian Medical Association Journal, Journal of General Internal Medicine,. The Linden Review, and Flatwater Free Press. She is the co-author of Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything and the upcoming book, Pseudoscience: An Amusing History of Crackpot Ideas and Why We Love Them.  You can find Dr. Kang at  LydiaKang.com BlueSky: @lydiakang.bsky.social IG: @LydiaKang We invite you to pre-order Pseudoscience: An Amusing History of Crackpot Ideas and Why We Love Them at The Bookworm Omaha. We rely on your donations to keep producing this podcast content and to support physician advocacy in Nebraska. If you would like to support Nebraska Alliance for Physician Advocacy, a 501(c)(3) organization in Nebraska please click to DONATE NOW.  If you have questions or answers, please email us at ⁠contact@nebraskaallianceforphysicianadvocacy.org⁠ Please check out our website at: Nebraska Alliance for Physician Advocacy Instagram Link https://www.instagram.com/neallianceforphysicianadvocacy/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/neallianceforphysicianadvocacy

In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt and Dr. Lydia Kang discuss: Dr. Lydia Kang's journey as an author and how she balances her writing with her work as a physician. They talk about how to receive negative feedback and how rejection can be a stepping stool to deep growth. In this episode, they touch on:  How to filter feedback to assure it is useful to you  How to craft criticism in a way that people respond and grow from it  The beauty of sharing your rejections and failures with another person     “When you put yourself in big places and try bigger things, you are going to experience more failure and rejection. It is normal and more common that people understand in our shiny world of posting all the positive things on social media.” Dr. Lydia Kang    Dr. Lydia Kang is an author of young adult fiction, adult fiction and non-fiction, and poetry. She graduated from Columbia University and New York University School of Medicine, completing her residency and chief residency at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. She is a practicing physician and associate professor of Internal Medicine who has gained a reputation for helping fellow writers achieve medical accuracy in fiction. Her poetry and non-fiction have been published in JAMA, The Annals of Internal Medicine, Canadian Medical Association Journal, Journal of General Internal Medicine, and Great Weather for Media. She believes in science and knocking on wood, and currently lives in Omaha with her husband and three children.    Follow Dr. Lydia Kang Instagram  Website  facebook  Books    Episode Links:  REVIVE Retreat Brave Ballance   Follow Brave Enough:   WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN Join The Table, Brave Enough's community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.

The guideline is published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The lead author on this updated is Igor Yakovenko. He is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and the Department of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University, where he studies addictive behaviours. Mainstreet's Alex Guye. To hear more about the update and what changes were made to its recommendations, Alex Guye gave professor Yakovenko a call. Here's part of their conversation.

THE MEDICAL RECORD PANEL: ONTARIO LAUNCHING A NURSING PROGRAM & CANCER PATIENTS IN THE ER  Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Fahad Razak,  General Internist at Unity Health Toronto and Canada Research Chair in Healthcare Data and Analytics at the University of Toronto, Dr. Alisa Naiman, a family doctor practicing comprehensive primary care in Toronto, and Dr. Malcolm Moore, Medical Oncologist of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. This week: there's an interesting study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on people going to emergency rooms just before being diagnosed with cancer, or being diagnosed with cancer while there. On the positive side, the first new nursing program in 20 years was announced. It comes after the Ford government announced restrictions on medical school admission designed to boost the number of doctors here in Ontario. DONALD TRUMP HAS WON THE U.S. ELECTION Libby Znaimer is joined by Whitley Yates, a Republican strategist and founder and owner of The Niche Agency, as well as Dr. Chris Cooper, a Political Science Professor at Western Carolina University. After months of coverage and dramatic twists and turns in the U.S. Presidential contest, Donald Trump secured a decisive victory. We discuss that and analyze some of the promises he's made during the campaign. WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE UPDATED COVID-19 VACCINES AVAILABLE NOW Libby is joined by Pharmacist Molly Yang, Director of Pharmacy Innovation; Professional Affairs at Whole Health Pharmacy. Have you had the latest COVID-19 booster? What about the flu shot? The latest guidance is to take them together, but there are also other vaccines Zoomers should be getting to prevent difficult and possibly debilitating bouts of illness.

THE MEDICAL RECORD: WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT SCURVY   Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Malcolm Moore, Medical Oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and former head of BC Cancer, Dr. Alisa Naiman, a family doctor in Toronto and Dr. Jamie Spiegelman, internal medicine and critical care physician at Humber River Hospital. Scurvy - a disease we thought was consigned to the history books - has reappeared and food insecurity seems to be the culprit here according to a study published in in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. And, what a study out of the University of Waterloo tells us about breakfast. CRTC WANTS CANADA'S BIG CELL PROVIDERS TO LOWER THEIR INTERNATIONAL ROAMING FEES Libby Znaimer is now joined by Jean-François Mezei, a telecommunications consultant based in Montreal and Carmi Levy,  a technology analyst and journalist based in London, Ontario The CRTC wants Canada's three big cell companies--Bell, Rogers and Telus--to reduce their international roaming charges. We take a deep dive into what these companies are currently charging customers and how it compares to other countries in the world. HAVE YOUR GROOMING HABITS CHANGED SINCE THE PANDEMIC?  Libby is joined by Bernadette Morra, the former Editor-in-chief of FASHION magazine and now a luxury lifestyle writer, as well as Derick Chetty, a fashion professional with Zoomer Media. A Globe and Mail article on this very topic piqued our interest. If you are working from home, has that changed anything about your grooming practices? And what about those of us who are retired?

Artificial intelligence is saving lives. A study recently published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal shows that there was a 26 per cent drop in unexpected deaths among hospitalized patients after an AI system was implemented. Dr. Rob Fraser, health tech expert and founding CEO and is the current President and CSO of Molecular You Corporation, joins Evan to explain why.

Like this? Get AIDAILY, delivered to your inbox, every weekday. Subscribe to our newsletter at https://aidaily.us What Is the Dead Internet Theory? The dead internet theory suggests that much of the web is populated by bots rather than humans, generating and engaging with content. Emerging in 2021, the theory has gained traction with the rise of AI tools, although no compelling evidence supports it. Human and AI interactions are increasingly intertwined online.  AI Could Help Workers Find Greater Purpose by Reducing Mundane Tasks AI may free workers from mundane tasks, enabling them to focus on more meaningful, human-centric aspects of their jobs. Experts suggest AI could enhance creativity, skill development, and workplace relationships. However, its role in replacing human interaction raises concerns about job satisfaction AI Tool Cuts Deaths in Toronto Hospital by 26%, New Study Shows St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto has deployed an AI tool, Chartwatch, that alerts clinicians to patients' deteriorating conditions. A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal revealed that using this AI system reduced unexpected deaths by 26%. The AI monitors patients' vitals and lab results, enabling faster interventions without replacing traditional care. Researchers are hopeful for wider deployment across Ontario hospitals.  AI Overload: Why The Hype Needs a Reality Check AI is increasingly overhyped, but it remains a tool—not an all-powerful force. Instead of being captivated by "AI-powered" labels, businesses should focus on use-case-driven applications that offer real value, like improving efficiency and reducing costs. A market correction is inevitable, shifting focus from buzzwords to tangible benefits. AI's Role in Early Detection of Esophageal Cancer Could Save Lives Esophageal cancer is difficult to detect early, leading to low survival rates. AI offers a breakthrough by improving screening accuracy, analyzing thousands of data points to identify high-risk patients more effectively than current guidelines. Doctors hope AI will increase early detection rates and improve patient outcomes. OnlyFans Creators Lead AI Adoption in the Creator Economy OnlyFans creators are driving AI integration by using tools that personalize communication, optimize content distribution, and provide audience insights. These innovations have led to significant revenue growth for many, while also influencing the development of AI tools across platforms. Creators are setting new standards by balancing authenticity with AI-driven engagement

THE ZOOMER SQUAD:  AGEISM AT WORK & WHAT DOCS ARE SAYING ABOUT OZEMPIC FOR ADULTS 65 + Tasha Kheiriddin is joined by Anthony Quinn, Chief Community Officer of CARP,  Bill VanGorder, Chief Advocacy and Education Officer of CARP, and John Wright, Executive Vice President of Maru Public Opinion. This week: we kick things off with a discussion about ageism in the workplace and when you should claim your government pension. AIR CANADA PILOTS COULD GO ON STRIKE NEXT MONTH Tasha Kheiriddin is joined by Dr. Gabor Lukacs, Founder and President of Air Passenger Rights and Dr. Karl Moore, Associate Professor, Strategy & Organization at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University. Air Canada pilots could go on strike as early as September 17th after 98 percent of them voted in favour of a strike mandate should negotiations fail. So, how will this impact travelers and what can Ottawa do about this? HOW AN INCREASE IN FOR-PROFIT CATARACT SURGERIES IS IMPACTING LOWER INCOME SENIORS Tasha Kheiriddin is now joined by Maureen Munro, a senior who has received cataract surgery at a private clinic in London, Ontario and John Mastronardi, a spokesperson for the Ontario Association of Optometrists. A new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal shows the extent to which lower income Seniors are facing barriers when it comes to accessing cataract surgery at for-profit clinics in Ontario.

More and more Canadians are unable to access public primary healthcare, according to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal at the beginning of December, 2023. In fact, about 20% of Canadians have no family doctor at all, and many more have irregular access to clinicians. The CMAJ study compares the Canadian primary care system with New Zealand and eight countries in Europe including France, Germany, Italy and the UK. Dr Tara Kiran is the senior author of the study and a family physician and scientist at St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto.

In this episode, breast surgical oncologist and president of the Black Physicians' Association of Ontario, Dr. Mojola Omole, joins us to talk about her advocacy work. She shares how she aims to increase the percentage of Black physicians in Ontario, reduce systemic barriers and racism in medicine, and support Black mental health. We also discuss the need for more robust data that accounts for racial differences to inform screening recommendations. Among the highlights in this episode: 01:50: Dr. Omole shares her reasons for specializing in breast cancer, emphasizing her enjoyment of its multidisciplinary approach and the opportunity it presents for impactful advocacy and community outreach 04:31: Dr. Omole discusses the systemic barriers preventing Black individuals from entering the medical field 06:08: Dr. Omole talks about her work with the Canadian Medical Association Journal 07:10: Dr. Omole explains the misconceptions around 'over-screening' and emphasizes the importance of recognizing biological differences across populations in medical treatment and screening practices 09:15: Dr. Omole discusses the lack of training in medical schools regarding the variations in disease presentation across different populations, emphasizing the need for medical education to incorporate diverse biological and social contexts 11:15: Dr. Omole discusses the Canadian taskforce on preventative health care's recommendations on breast cancer screening, arguing they do not reflect the earlier ages at which women of certain ethnic backgrounds typically present with breast cancer 13:20: Dr. Omole suggests that economic considerations heavily influence national screening recommendations in Canada, which may lead to later diagnoses and poorer outcomes in underrepresented populations 15:00: Zoe reflects on the conversation, noting the critical shortage of family physicians in Canada, which impacts routine screening and health care access 15:19: Dr. Omole offers advice to other health care providers on staying informed and understanding the unique risk factors and needs of diverse patient populations to provide better, more personalized care 16:19: What our hosts learned from this episode Contact Our Hosts Steven Newmark, Chief of Policy at GHLF: snewmark@ghlf.org Zoe Rothblatt, Director of Community Outreach at GHLF: zrothblatt@ghlf.org A podcast episode produced by Ben Blanc, Associate Director, Digital Production and Engagement at GHLF. We want to hear what you think. Send your comments in the form of an email, video, or audio clip of yourself to podcasts@ghlf.org Catch up on all our episodes on our website or on your favorite podcast channel.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cancer continues to be the biggest killer in Canada, but a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says more people are surviving up to 25 years after being diagnosed. Host Jeff Douglas is joined by Globe and Mail health columnist Andre Picard to get the details.

All four of my children were born at home. I feel extremely fortunate about this - they should too. Four wonderful experiences. I will forever be in debt to Louisa and Jolie.When, twenty-four years ago, my then wife, Louisa, told me she wanted to give birth to our first child at home, I thought she was off her rocker, but I gave her my word that we would at least talk to a midwife, and we did just that. Within about five minutes of meeting Tina Perridge of South London Independent Midwives, a lady of whom I cannot speak highly enough, I was instantly persuaded. Ever since, when I hear that someone is pregnant, I start urging them to have a homebirth with the persistence of a Jehovah's Witness or someone pedalling an upgrade to your current mobile phone subscription. I even included a chapter about it in my first book Life After the State - Why We Don't Need Government (2013), (now, thanks to the invaluable help of my buddy Chris P, back in print - with the audiobook here [Audible UK, Audible US, Apple Books]).I'm publishing that chapter here, something I was previously not able to do (rights issues), because I want as many people as possible to read it. Many people do not even know home-birth is an option. I'm fully aware that, when it comes to giving birth, one of the last people a prospective mum wants to hear advice from is comedian and financial writer, Dominic Frisby. I'm also aware that this is an extremely sensitive subject and that I am treading on eggshells galore. But the word needs to be spread. All I would say is that if you or someone you know is pregnant, have a conversation with an independent midwife, before committing to having your baby in a hospital. It's so important. Please just talk to an independent midwife first. With that said, here is that chapter. Enjoy it, and if you know anyone who is pregnant, please send this to them.We have to use fiat money, we have to pay taxes, most of us are beholden in some way to the education system. These are all things much bigger than us, over which we have little control. The birth of your child, however, is one of the most important experiences of your (and their) life, one where the state so often makes a mess of things, but one where it really is possible to have some control.The State: Looking After Your First BreathThe knowledge of how to give birth without outside interventions lies deep within each woman. Successful childbirth depends on an acceptance of the process.Suzanne Arms, authorThere is no single experience that puts you more in touch with the meaning of life than birth. A birth should be a happy, healthy, wonderful experience for everyone involved. Too often it isn't.Broadly speaking, there are three places a mother can give birth: at home, in hospital or – half-way house – at a birthing centre. Over the course of the 20th century we have moved birth from the home to the hospital. In the UK in the 1920s something like 80% of births took place at home. In the 1960s it was one in three. By 1991 it was 1%. In Japan the home-birth rate was 95% in 1950 falling to 1.2% in 1975. In the US home-birth went from 50% in 1938 to 1% in 1955. In the UK now 2.7% of births take place at home. In Scotland, 1.2% of births take place at home, and in Northern Ireland this drops to fewer than 0.4%. Home-birth is now the anomaly. But for several thousand years, it was the norm.The two key words here are ‘happy' and ‘healthy'. The two tend to come hand in hand. But let's look, first, at ‘healthy'. Let me stress, I am looking at planned homebirth; not a homebirth where mum didn't get to the hospital in time.My initial assumption when I looked at this subject was that hospital would be more healthy. A hospital is full of trained personnel, medicine and medical equipment. My first instinct against home-birth, it turned out, echoed the numerous arguments against it, which come from many parts of the medical establishment. They more or less run along the lines of this statement from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology: ‘Unless a woman is in a hospital, an accredited free-standing birthing centre or a birthing centre within a hospital complex, with physicians ready to intervene quickly if necessary, she puts herself and her baby's health and life at unnecessary risk.'Actually, the risk of death for babies born at home is almost half that of babies born at hospital (0.35 per 1,000 compared to 0.64), according to a 2009 study by the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence reports that mortality rates are the same in booked home-birth as in hospitals. In November 2011 a study of 65,000 mothers by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU) was published in the British Medical Journal. The overall rate of negative birth outcomes (death or serious complications) was 4.3 per 1,000 births, with no difference in outcome between non-obstetric and obstetric (hospital) settings. The study did find that the rate of complications rose for first-time mums, 5.3 per 1,000 (0.53%) for hospitals and 9.5 per 1,000 (0.95%) for home-birth. I suspect the number of complications falls with later births because, with experience, the process becomes easier – and because mothers who had problems are less likely to have more children than those who didn't. The Daily Mail managed to twist this into: ‘First-time mothers who opt for home birth face triple the risk of death or brain damage in child.' Don't you just love newspapers? Whether at home or in the hospital there were 250 negative events seen in the study: early neonatal deaths accounted for 13%; brain damage 46%; meconium aspiration syndrome 20%; traumatic nerve damage 4% and fractured bones 4%. Not all of these were treatable.There are so many variables in birth that raw comparative statistics are not always enough. And, without wishing to get into an ethical argument, there are other factors apart from safety. There are things – comfort, happiness, for example – for which people are prepared to sacrifice a little safety. The overriding statistic to take away from that part of the study is that less than 1% of births in the UK, whether at hospital or at home, lead to serious complications.But when you look at rates of satisfaction with their birth experience, the numbers are staggering. According to a 1999 study by Midwifery Today researching women who have experienced both home and hospital birth, over 99% said that they would prefer to have a home-birth in the future!What, then, is so unsatisfying about the hospital birth experience? I'm going to walk through the birthing process now, comparing what goes on at home to hospital. Of course, no two births are the same, no two homes are the same, no two hospitals are the same, but, broadly speaking, it seems women prefer the home-birth experience because: they have more autonomy at home, they suffer less intervention at home and, yes, it appears they actually suffer less pain at home. When mum goes into labour, the journey to the hospital, sometimes rushed, the alien setting when she gets there, the array of doctors and nurses who she may never have met before, but are about to get intimate, can all upset her rhythm and the production of her labour hormones. These aren't always problems, but they have the potential to be; they add to stress and detract from comfort.At home, mum is in a familiar environment, she can get comfortable and settled, go where she likes and do what she likes. Often getting on with something else can take her mind off the pain of the contractions, while in hospital there is little else to focus on. At home, she can choose where she wants to give birth – and she can change her mind, if she likes. She is in her own domain, without someone she doesn't know telling her what she can and can't do. She can change the light, the heating, the music; she can decide exactly who she wants at the birth and who ‘catches' her baby. She can choose what she wants to eat. She will have interviewed and chosen her midwife many months before, and built up a relationship over that time. But in hospitals she is attended by whoever is on duty, she has to eat hospital food, there might be interruptions, doctors' pagers, alarms, screams from next door, whirrs of machinery, tube lighting, overworked, resentful staff to deal with, internal hospital politics, people coming in, waking her up, and checking her vitals, sticking in pins or needles, putting on monitor belts, checking her cervix mid-contraction – any number of things over which mum has no control. Mums who move about freely during labour complain less of back pain. Many authorities feel that the motion of walking and changing positions can even enhance the effectiveness of the contractions, but such active birth is not as possible in the confines of many hospitals. Many use intravenous fluids and electronic foetal monitors to ensure she stays hydrated and to record each contraction and beat of the baby's heart. This all dampens mum's ability to move about and adds to any feelings of claustrophobia.In hospital the tendency is to give birth on your back, though this is often not the best position – the coccyx cannot bend to help the baby's head pass through. There are many other positions – on your hands and knees for example – where you don't have to work against gravity and where the baby's head is not impeded. On your back, pushing is less effective and metal forceps are sometimes used to pull the baby out of the vagina, but forceps are less commonly used when mum assumes a position of comfort during the bearing-down stage.This brings us to the next issue: intervention. The NPEU study of 2011 found that 58% of women in hospital had a natural birth without any intervention, compared to 88% of women at home and 80% of women at a midwife-led unit. Of course, there are frequent occasions when medical technology saves lives, but the likelihood of medical intervention increases in hospitals. I suggest it can actually cause as many problems as it alleviates because it is interruptive. Even routine technology can interrupt the normal birth process. Once derailed from the birthing tracks, it is hard to get back on. Once intervention starts, it's hard to stop. The medical industry is built on providing cures, but if you are a mother giving birth, you are not sick, there is nothing wrong with you, what you are going through is natural and normal. As author Sheila Stubbs writes, ‘the midwife considers the miracle of childbirth as normal, and leaves it alone unless there's trouble. The obstetrician normally sees childbirth as trouble; if he leaves it alone, it's a miracle.'Here are just some of the other interventions that occur. If a mum arrives at hospital and the production of her labour hormones has been interrupted, as can happen as a result of the journey, she will sometimes be given syntocinon, a synthetic version of the hormone oxytocin, which occurs naturally and causes the muscle of the uterus to contract during labour so baby can be pushed out. The dose of syntocinon is increased until contractions are deemed normal. It's sometimes given after birth as well to stimulate the contractions that help push out the placenta and prevent bleeding. But there are allegations that syntocinon increases the risk of baby going into distress, and of mum finding labour too painful and needing an epidural. This is one of the reasons why women also find home-birth less painful.Obstetricians sometimes rupture the bag of waters surrounding the baby in order to speed up the birthing process. This places a time limit on the labour, as the likelihood of a uterine infection increases after the water is broken. Indeed in a hospital – no matter how clean – you are exposed to more pathogens than at home. The rate of post-partum infection to women who give birth in hospital is a terrifying 25%, compared to just 4% in home-birth mothers. Once the protective cushion of water surrounding the baby's head is removed (that is to say, once the waters are broken) there are more possibilities for intervention. A scalp electrode, a tiny probe, might be attached to baby's scalp, to continue monitoring its heart rate and to gather information about its blood.There are these and a whole host of other ‘just in case' interventions in hospital that you just don't meet at home. As childbirth author Margaret Jowitt, says – and here we are back to our theme of Natural Law – ‘Natural childbirth has evolved to suit the species, and if mankind chooses to ignore her advice and interfere with her workings we must not complain about the consequences.'At home, if necessary, in the 1% of cases where serious complications do ensue, you can still be taken to hospital – assuming you live in reasonable distance of one.‘My mother groaned, my father wept,' wrote William Blake, ‘into the dangerous world I leapt.' We come now to the afterbirth. Many new mothers say they physically ache for their babies when they are separated. Nature, it seems, gives new mothers a strong attachment desire, a physical yearning that, if allowed to be satisfied, starts a process with results beneficial to both mother and baby. There are all sorts of natural forces at work, many of which we don't even know about. ‘Incomplete bonding,' on the other hand, in the words of Judith Goldsmith, author of Childbirth Wisdom from the World's Oldest Societies, ‘can lead to confusion, depression, incompetence, and even rejection of the child by the mother.' Yet in hospitals, even today with all we know, the baby is often taken away from the mother for weighing and other tests – or to keep it warm, though there is no warmer place for it that in its mother's arms (nature has planned for skin-to-skin contact).Separation of mother from baby is more likely if some kind of medical intervention or operation has occurred, or if mum is recovering from drugs taken during labour. (Women who have taken drugs in labour also report decreased maternal feelings towards their babies and increased post-natal depression). At home, after birth, baby is not taken from its mother's side unless there is an emergency.As child development author, Joseph Chilton Pearce, writes, ‘Bonding is a psychological-biological state, a vital physical link that coordinates and unifies the entire biological system . . . We are never conscious of being bonded; we are conscious only of our acute disease when we are not bonded.' The breaking of the bond results in higher rates of postpartum depression and child rejection. Nature gives new parents and babies the desire to bond, because bonding is beneficial to our species. Not only does it encourage breastfeeding and speed the recovery of the mother, but the emotional bonding in the magical moments after birth between mother and child, between the entire family, cements the unity of the family. The hospital institution has no such agenda. The cutting of the umbilical cord is another area of contention. Hospitals, say home-birth advocates, cut it too soon. In Birth Without Violence, the classic 1975 text advocating gentle birthing techniques, Frederick Leboyer – also an advocate of bonding and immediate skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby after birth – writes:[Nature] has arranged it so that during the dangerous passage of birth, the child is receiving oxygen from two sources rather than one: from the lungs and from the umbilicus. Two systems functioning simultaneously, one relieving the other: the old one, the umbilicus, continues to supply oxygen to the baby until the new one, the lungs, has fully taken its place. However, once the infant has been born and delivered from the mother, it remains bound to her by this umbilicus, which continues to beat for several long minutes: four, five, sometimes more. Oxygenated by the umbilicus, sheltered from anoxia, the baby can settle into breathing without danger and without shock. In addition, the blood has plenty of time to abandon its old route (which leads to the placenta) and progressively to fill the pulmonary circulatory system. During this time, in parallel fashion, an orifice closes in the heart, which seals off the old route forever. In short, for an average of four or five minutes, the newborn infant straddles two worlds. Drawing oxygen from two sources, it switches gradually from the one to the other, without a brutal transition. One scarcely hears a cry. What is required for this miracle to take place? Only a little patience.Patience is not something you associate with hospital birth. There are simply not the resources, even if, as the sixth US president John Quincy Adams said, ‘patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish'. The arguments to delay the early cutting of the cord (something not as frequent in hospitals as it once was) are that, even though blood going back to the placenta stops flowing – or pulsing – non-pulsing blood going from the placenta into baby is still flowing. After birth, 25–35% of baby's oxygenated blood remains in the placenta for up to ten minutes. With the cord cut early, baby is less likely to receive this blood, making cold stress, infant jaundice, anaemia, Rh disease and even a delayed maternal placental expulsion more likely. There is also the risk of oxygen deprivation and circulatory shock, as baby gasps for breath before his nasal passages have naturally drained their mucus and amniotic fluid. Scientist W. F. Windle has even argued that, starved of blood and oxygen, brain cells will die, so cutting the cord too early even sets the stage for brain damage.Natural birth advocates say it is vital for the baby's feeding to be put to the breast as soon as possible after birth, while his sucking instincts are strongest. Bathing, measuring and temperature-taking can wait. Babies are most alert during the first hour after birth, so it's important to take advantage of this before they settle into that sleepy stage that can last for hours or even days.Colostrum, the yellow fluid that breasts start producing during pregnancy, is nature's first food. is substance performs many roles we know about and probably many we don't as well. Known as ‘baby's first vaccine', it is full of antibodies and protects against many different viruses and bacteria. It has a laxative effect that clears meconium – baby's black and tarry first stool – out of the system. If this isn't done, baby can be vulnerable to jaundice. Colostrum lines baby's stomach ready for its mother's milk, which comes two or three days later, and it meets baby's nutritional needs with a naturally occurring balance of fat, protein and carbohydrate. Again, with the various medical interventions that go on in hospitals, from operations to drug-taking to simply separating mother and baby, this early breast-feeding process can easily be derailed. Once derailed, as I've said, it's often hard to get back on track. I am no scientist and cannot speak with any authority on the science behind it all, but I do know that nature, very often, plans for things that science has yet to discover.Once upon a time, when families lived closer together and people had more children at a younger age, there was an immediate family infrastructure around you. People were experienced with young. If mum was tired, nan or auntie could feed the baby. Many of us are less fortunate in this regard today. With a hospital, you are sent home and, suddenly, you and your partner are on your own with a baby in your life, and very little aftercare. When my first son was born I was 30. I suddenly realized I had only held a baby once before. I was an only child so I had never looked after a younger brother or sister; my cousins, who had had children, lived abroad. Suddenly there was this living thing in my life, and I didn't know what to do. But, having had a home-birth, the midwife, who you already know, can you give you aftercare. She comes and visits, helps with the early breastfeeding process and generally supports and keeps you on the right tracks.It's so important to get the birthing process right. There are all sorts of consequences to our health and happiness to not doing so. And in the West, with the process riddled as it is with intervention, we don't. We need to get birth out of the hospital and into an environment where women experience less pain, lower levels of intervention, greater autonomy and increased satisfaction.A 2011 study by a team from Peking University and the London School of Hygiene found that, of 1.5 million births in China between 1996 and 2008, babies born in hospitals were two to three times less likely to die. China is at a similar stage in its evolutionary cycle to the developed world at the beginning of the 20th century. The move to hospitals there looks inevitable. Something similar is happening in most Developing Nations.In his book A History of Women's Bodies, Edward Shorter quotes a doctor describing a birth in a working-class home in the 1920s:You find a bed that has been slept on by the husband, wife and one or two children; it has frequently been soaked with urine, the sheets are dirty, and the patient's garments are soiled, she has not had a bath. Instead of sterile dressings you have a few old rags or the discharges are allowed to soak into a nightdress which is not changed for days.For comparison, he describes a 1920s hospital birth:The mother lies in a well-aired disinfected room, light and sunlight stream unhindered through a high window and you can make it light as day electrically too. She is well bathed and freshly clothed on linen sheets of blinding whiteness . . . You have a staff of assistants who respond to every signal . . . Only those who have to repair a perineum in a cottars's house in a cottar's bed with the poor light and help at hand can realize the joy.Most homes in the developed world are no longer as he describes, if they ever were, except in slums. It would seem the evolution in the way we give birth as a country develops passes from the home to the hospital. It is time to take it away from the hospital.Why am I spending so much time on birth in a book about economics? The process of giving birth is yet another manifestation of this culture of pervasive state intervention. (Hospitals, of course, are mostly state run.) It's another example of something that feels safer, if provided by the state in a hospital, even if the evidence is to the contrary. And it's another example of the state destroying for so many something that is beautiful and wonderful.What's more, like so many things that are state-run, hospital birth is needlessly expensive. The November 2011 study of 65,000 mothers by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit looked at the average costs of birth in the NHS. They were highest for planned obstetric unit births and lowest for planned home-births. Here they are:* £1,631 (c. $2,600) for a planned birth in an obstetric unit * £1,461 (c. $2,340 for a planned birth in an alongside midwifery unit (AMU)* £1,435 (c. $2,300) for a planned birth in a free-standing midwifery unit (FMU)* £1,067 (c. $1,700) for a planned home-birth.Not only is it as safe; not only are people more satisfied by it; not only do the recipients receive more one-to-one – i.e. better – care; home-birth is also 35% cheaper. Intervention is expensive.So I return to this theme of non-intervention, whether in hospitals or economies. It often looks cruel, callous and hard-hearted; it often looks unsafe, but, counter-intuitively perhaps, in the end it is more human and more humane.When you look at the cost of private birth, the argument for home-birth is even more compelling. Private maternity care is expensive. For example, in summer 2012, a first birth at the Portland Hospital in London costs £2,880 (about $4,400) for a normal delivery and £3,790 (about $5,685) for an elective caesarean and for the first 24 hours of care. Additional nights in a standard room cost around £1,000 (about $1,500). You also have to allow for the fees charged by your private consultant obstetrician, which might be £3,000–£4,000 ($4,500– $6,000). So, in total, a private birth at a hospital such as the Portland could cost £7,500–£10,000 ($10–$15,000). There will be some saving if you opt for a ‘midwife-led delivery service' or ‘midwife-led care'. In this instance, you will still have a named obstetrician, but he or she will see you less often, and the birth may be ‘supported by an on-call Consultant Obstetrician'. London midwives charge £2,500–£4,000 (c. $4–6,000) for about six months of care from early pregnancy to a month after birth. The comparative value is astounding, I would say.To have a planned home-birth on the NHS is possible, but can be problematic to arrange, depending on where you are based. Most people, after they have paid taxes, do not now have the funds to buy a private home-birth, so they are forced into the arms of government health care, such is the cycle at work.I was first introduced to the idea of home-birth by my ex-wife, Louisa, something for which I will forever be grateful. She hated hospitals due to an earlier experience in her life and only found out about alternatives thanks to the internet. I, as well as my friends and family, thought Louisa was insane. But she insisted. And she was right to.Our first son was actually two weeks and six days late. Because he was so late, we were obliged to go to the hospital, which we did, after two weeks and five days. We were kept waiting so long in there, we decided to go and persuaded an overworked nurse that we were fine to go and we left. The confused nurse was glad to have one less thing to think about. The next day Samuel was born: a beautiful and wonderful experience that I will never forget, one of the happiest days of my life – exactly as nature intended.Simply talking to people that have experienced both home-birth and hospital birth, or reading about their experiences, the anecdotal evidence is compelling. Home-birth may not be for everyone – I'm not suggesting it is. Birthing centres seem a good way forward. But a hospital birth should only be for emergencies. Childbirth is a natural process that no longer requires hospitalization, except in those 1% of situations where something goes seriously wrong. If it does go wrong and there is an emergency, call an ambulance and be taken to hospital – that is what they are for.Returning to the original premise of Natural and Positive Law, it's pretty clear which category hospital birth falls into. Hospitals do things in the way that they do because of the pressures they are under, not least the threat of legal action should some procedural failure occur. Taking birth back home and away from the state reduces the burden of us on it and of it on us.Life After the State - Why We Don't Need Government (2013) is now back in print - with the audiobook here: Audible UK, Audible US, Apple Books. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe

All four of my children were born at home. I feel extremely fortunate about this - they should too. Four wonderful experiences. I will forever be in debt to Louisa and Jolie.When, twenty-four years ago, my then wife, Louisa, told me she wanted to give birth to our first child at home, I thought she was off her rocker, but I gave her my word that we would at least talk to a midwife, and we did just that. Within about five minutes of meeting Tina Perridge of South London Independent Midwives, a lady of whom I cannot speak highly enough, I was instantly persuaded. Ever since, when I hear that someone is pregnant, I start urging them to have a homebirth with the persistence of a Jehovah's Witness or someone pedalling an upgrade to your current mobile phone subscription. I even included a chapter about it in my first book Life After the State - Why We Don't Need Government (2013), (now, thanks to the invaluable help of my buddy Chris P, back in print - with the audiobook here [Audible UK, Audible US, Apple Books]).I'm publishing that chapter here, something I was previously not able to do (rights issues), because I want as many people as possible to read it. Many people do not even know home-birth is an option. I'm fully aware that, when it comes to giving birth, one of the last people a prospective mum wants to hear advice from is comedian and financial writer, Dominic Frisby. I'm also aware that this is an extremely sensitive subject and that I am treading on eggshells galore. But the word needs to be spread. All I would say is that if you or someone you know is pregnant, have a conversation with an independent midwife, before committing to having your baby in a hospital. It's so important. Please just talk to an independent midwife first. With that said, here is that chapter. Enjoy it, and if you know anyone who is pregnant, please send this to them.We have to use fiat money, we have to pay taxes, most of us are beholden in some way to the education system. These are all things much bigger than us, over which we have little control. The birth of your child, however, is one of the most important experiences of your (and their) life, one where the state so often makes a mess of things, but one where it really is possible to have some control.The State: Looking After Your First BreathThe knowledge of how to give birth without outside interventions lies deep within each woman. Successful childbirth depends on an acceptance of the process.Suzanne Arms, authorThere is no single experience that puts you more in touch with the meaning of life than birth. A birth should be a happy, healthy, wonderful experience for everyone involved. Too often it isn't.Broadly speaking, there are three places a mother can give birth: at home, in hospital or – half-way house – at a birthing centre. Over the course of the 20th century we have moved birth from the home to the hospital. In the UK in the 1920s something like 80% of births took place at home. In the 1960s it was one in three. By 1991 it was 1%. In Japan the home-birth rate was 95% in 1950 falling to 1.2% in 1975. In the US home-birth went from 50% in 1938 to 1% in 1955. In the UK now 2.7% of births take place at home. In Scotland, 1.2% of births take place at home, and in Northern Ireland this drops to fewer than 0.4%. Home-birth is now the anomaly. But for several thousand years, it was the norm.The two key words here are ‘happy' and ‘healthy'. The two tend to come hand in hand. But let's look, first, at ‘healthy'. Let me stress, I am looking at planned homebirth; not a homebirth where mum didn't get to the hospital in time.My initial assumption when I looked at this subject was that hospital would be more healthy. A hospital is full of trained personnel, medicine and medical equipment. My first instinct against home-birth, it turned out, echoed the numerous arguments against it, which come from many parts of the medical establishment. They more or less run along the lines of this statement from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology: ‘Unless a woman is in a hospital, an accredited free-standing birthing centre or a birthing centre within a hospital complex, with physicians ready to intervene quickly if necessary, she puts herself and her baby's health and life at unnecessary risk.'Actually, the risk of death for babies born at home is almost half that of babies born at hospital (0.35 per 1,000 compared to 0.64), according to a 2009 study by the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence reports that mortality rates are the same in booked home-birth as in hospitals. In November 2011 a study of 65,000 mothers by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU) was published in the British Medical Journal. The overall rate of negative birth outcomes (death or serious complications) was 4.3 per 1,000 births, with no difference in outcome between non-obstetric and obstetric (hospital) settings. The study did find that the rate of complications rose for first-time mums, 5.3 per 1,000 (0.53%) for hospitals and 9.5 per 1,000 (0.95%) for home-birth. I suspect the number of complications falls with later births because, with experience, the process becomes easier – and because mothers who had problems are less likely to have more children than those who didn't. The Daily Mail managed to twist this into: ‘First-time mothers who opt for home birth face triple the risk of death or brain damage in child.' Don't you just love newspapers? Whether at home or in the hospital there were 250 negative events seen in the study: early neonatal deaths accounted for 13%; brain damage 46%; meconium aspiration syndrome 20%; traumatic nerve damage 4% and fractured bones 4%. Not all of these were treatable.There are so many variables in birth that raw comparative statistics are not always enough. And, without wishing to get into an ethical argument, there are other factors apart from safety. There are things – comfort, happiness, for example – for which people are prepared to sacrifice a little safety. The overriding statistic to take away from that part of the study is that less than 1% of births in the UK, whether at hospital or at home, lead to serious complications.But when you look at rates of satisfaction with their birth experience, the numbers are staggering. According to a 1999 study by Midwifery Today researching women who have experienced both home and hospital birth, over 99% said that they would prefer to have a home-birth in the future!What, then, is so unsatisfying about the hospital birth experience? I'm going to walk through the birthing process now, comparing what goes on at home to hospital. Of course, no two births are the same, no two homes are the same, no two hospitals are the same, but, broadly speaking, it seems women prefer the home-birth experience because: they have more autonomy at home, they suffer less intervention at home and, yes, it appears they actually suffer less pain at home. When mum goes into labour, the journey to the hospital, sometimes rushed, the alien setting when she gets there, the array of doctors and nurses who she may never have met before, but are about to get intimate, can all upset her rhythm and the production of her labour hormones. These aren't always problems, but they have the potential to be; they add to stress and detract from comfort.At home, mum is in a familiar environment, she can get comfortable and settled, go where she likes and do what she likes. Often getting on with something else can take her mind off the pain of the contractions, while in hospital there is little else to focus on. At home, she can choose where she wants to give birth – and she can change her mind, if she likes. She is in her own domain, without someone she doesn't know telling her what she can and can't do. She can change the light, the heating, the music; she can decide exactly who she wants at the birth and who ‘catches' her baby. She can choose what she wants to eat. She will have interviewed and chosen her midwife many months before, and built up a relationship over that time. But in hospitals she is attended by whoever is on duty, she has to eat hospital food, there might be interruptions, doctors' pagers, alarms, screams from next door, whirrs of machinery, tube lighting, overworked, resentful staff to deal with, internal hospital politics, people coming in, waking her up, and checking her vitals, sticking in pins or needles, putting on monitor belts, checking her cervix mid-contraction – any number of things over which mum has no control. Mums who move about freely during labour complain less of back pain. Many authorities feel that the motion of walking and changing positions can even enhance the effectiveness of the contractions, but such active birth is not as possible in the confines of many hospitals. Many use intravenous fluids and electronic foetal monitors to ensure she stays hydrated and to record each contraction and beat of the baby's heart. This all dampens mum's ability to move about and adds to any feelings of claustrophobia.In hospital the tendency is to give birth on your back, though this is often not the best position – the coccyx cannot bend to help the baby's head pass through. There are many other positions – on your hands and knees for example – where you don't have to work against gravity and where the baby's head is not impeded. On your back, pushing is less effective and metal forceps are sometimes used to pull the baby out of the vagina, but forceps are less commonly used when mum assumes a position of comfort during the bearing-down stage.This brings us to the next issue: intervention. The NPEU study of 2011 found that 58% of women in hospital had a natural birth without any intervention, compared to 88% of women at home and 80% of women at a midwife-led unit. Of course, there are frequent occasions when medical technology saves lives, but the likelihood of medical intervention increases in hospitals. I suggest it can actually cause as many problems as it alleviates because it is interruptive. Even routine technology can interrupt the normal birth process. Once derailed from the birthing tracks, it is hard to get back on. Once intervention starts, it's hard to stop. The medical industry is built on providing cures, but if you are a mother giving birth, you are not sick, there is nothing wrong with you, what you are going through is natural and normal. As author Sheila Stubbs writes, ‘the midwife considers the miracle of childbirth as normal, and leaves it alone unless there's trouble. The obstetrician normally sees childbirth as trouble; if he leaves it alone, it's a miracle.'Here are just some of the other interventions that occur. If a mum arrives at hospital and the production of her labour hormones has been interrupted, as can happen as a result of the journey, she will sometimes be given syntocinon, a synthetic version of the hormone oxytocin, which occurs naturally and causes the muscle of the uterus to contract during labour so baby can be pushed out. The dose of syntocinon is increased until contractions are deemed normal. It's sometimes given after birth as well to stimulate the contractions that help push out the placenta and prevent bleeding. But there are allegations that syntocinon increases the risk of baby going into distress, and of mum finding labour too painful and needing an epidural. This is one of the reasons why women also find home-birth less painful.Obstetricians sometimes rupture the bag of waters surrounding the baby in order to speed up the birthing process. This places a time limit on the labour, as the likelihood of a uterine infection increases after the water is broken. Indeed in a hospital – no matter how clean – you are exposed to more pathogens than at home. The rate of post-partum infection to women who give birth in hospital is a terrifying 25%, compared to just 4% in home-birth mothers. Once the protective cushion of water surrounding the baby's head is removed (that is to say, once the waters are broken) there are more possibilities for intervention. A scalp electrode, a tiny probe, might be attached to baby's scalp, to continue monitoring its heart rate and to gather information about its blood.There are these and a whole host of other ‘just in case' interventions in hospital that you just don't meet at home. As childbirth author Margaret Jowitt, says – and here we are back to our theme of Natural Law – ‘Natural childbirth has evolved to suit the species, and if mankind chooses to ignore her advice and interfere with her workings we must not complain about the consequences.'At home, if necessary, in the 1% of cases where serious complications do ensue, you can still be taken to hospital – assuming you live in reasonable distance of one.‘My mother groaned, my father wept,' wrote William Blake, ‘into the dangerous world I leapt.' We come now to the afterbirth. Many new mothers say they physically ache for their babies when they are separated. Nature, it seems, gives new mothers a strong attachment desire, a physical yearning that, if allowed to be satisfied, starts a process with results beneficial to both mother and baby. There are all sorts of natural forces at work, many of which we don't even know about. ‘Incomplete bonding,' on the other hand, in the words of Judith Goldsmith, author of Childbirth Wisdom from the World's Oldest Societies, ‘can lead to confusion, depression, incompetence, and even rejection of the child by the mother.' Yet in hospitals, even today with all we know, the baby is often taken away from the mother for weighing and other tests – or to keep it warm, though there is no warmer place for it that in its mother's arms (nature has planned for skin-to-skin contact).Separation of mother from baby is more likely if some kind of medical intervention or operation has occurred, or if mum is recovering from drugs taken during labour. (Women who have taken drugs in labour also report decreased maternal feelings towards their babies and increased post-natal depression). At home, after birth, baby is not taken from its mother's side unless there is an emergency.As child development author, Joseph Chilton Pearce, writes, ‘Bonding is a psychological-biological state, a vital physical link that coordinates and unifies the entire biological system . . . We are never conscious of being bonded; we are conscious only of our acute disease when we are not bonded.' The breaking of the bond results in higher rates of postpartum depression and child rejection. Nature gives new parents and babies the desire to bond, because bonding is beneficial to our species. Not only does it encourage breastfeeding and speed the recovery of the mother, but the emotional bonding in the magical moments after birth between mother and child, between the entire family, cements the unity of the family. The hospital institution has no such agenda. The cutting of the umbilical cord is another area of contention. Hospitals, say home-birth advocates, cut it too soon. In Birth Without Violence, the classic 1975 text advocating gentle birthing techniques, Frederick Leboyer – also an advocate of bonding and immediate skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby after birth – writes:[Nature] has arranged it so that during the dangerous passage of birth, the child is receiving oxygen from two sources rather than one: from the lungs and from the umbilicus. Two systems functioning simultaneously, one relieving the other: the old one, the umbilicus, continues to supply oxygen to the baby until the new one, the lungs, has fully taken its place. However, once the infant has been born and delivered from the mother, it remains bound to her by this umbilicus, which continues to beat for several long minutes: four, five, sometimes more. Oxygenated by the umbilicus, sheltered from anoxia, the baby can settle into breathing without danger and without shock. In addition, the blood has plenty of time to abandon its old route (which leads to the placenta) and progressively to fill the pulmonary circulatory system. During this time, in parallel fashion, an orifice closes in the heart, which seals off the old route forever. In short, for an average of four or five minutes, the newborn infant straddles two worlds. Drawing oxygen from two sources, it switches gradually from the one to the other, without a brutal transition. One scarcely hears a cry. What is required for this miracle to take place? Only a little patience.Patience is not something you associate with hospital birth. There are simply not the resources, even if, as the sixth US president John Quincy Adams said, ‘patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish'. The arguments to delay the early cutting of the cord (something not as frequent in hospitals as it once was) are that, even though blood going back to the placenta stops flowing – or pulsing – non-pulsing blood going from the placenta into baby is still flowing. After birth, 25–35% of baby's oxygenated blood remains in the placenta for up to ten minutes. With the cord cut early, baby is less likely to receive this blood, making cold stress, infant jaundice, anaemia, Rh disease and even a delayed maternal placental expulsion more likely. There is also the risk of oxygen deprivation and circulatory shock, as baby gasps for breath before his nasal passages have naturally drained their mucus and amniotic fluid. Scientist W. F. Windle has even argued that, starved of blood and oxygen, brain cells will die, so cutting the cord too early even sets the stage for brain damage.Natural birth advocates say it is vital for the baby's feeding to be put to the breast as soon as possible after birth, while his sucking instincts are strongest. Bathing, measuring and temperature-taking can wait. Babies are most alert during the first hour after birth, so it's important to take advantage of this before they settle into that sleepy stage that can last for hours or even days.Colostrum, the yellow fluid that breasts start producing during pregnancy, is nature's first food. is substance performs many roles we know about and probably many we don't as well. Known as ‘baby's first vaccine', it is full of antibodies and protects against many different viruses and bacteria. It has a laxative effect that clears meconium – baby's black and tarry first stool – out of the system. If this isn't done, baby can be vulnerable to jaundice. Colostrum lines baby's stomach ready for its mother's milk, which comes two or three days later, and it meets baby's nutritional needs with a naturally occurring balance of fat, protein and carbohydrate. Again, with the various medical interventions that go on in hospitals, from operations to drug-taking to simply separating mother and baby, this early breast-feeding process can easily be derailed. Once derailed, as I've said, it's often hard to get back on track. I am no scientist and cannot speak with any authority on the science behind it all, but I do know that nature, very often, plans for things that science has yet to discover.Once upon a time, when families lived closer together and people had more children at a younger age, there was an immediate family infrastructure around you. People were experienced with young. If mum was tired, nan or auntie could feed the baby. Many of us are less fortunate in this regard today. With a hospital, you are sent home and, suddenly, you and your partner are on your own with a baby in your life, and very little aftercare. When my first son was born I was 30. I suddenly realized I had only held a baby once before. I was an only child so I had never looked after a younger brother or sister; my cousins, who had had children, lived abroad. Suddenly there was this living thing in my life, and I didn't know what to do. But, having had a home-birth, the midwife, who you already know, can you give you aftercare. She comes and visits, helps with the early breastfeeding process and generally supports and keeps you on the right tracks.It's so important to get the birthing process right. There are all sorts of consequences to our health and happiness to not doing so. And in the West, with the process riddled as it is with intervention, we don't. We need to get birth out of the hospital and into an environment where women experience less pain, lower levels of intervention, greater autonomy and increased satisfaction.A 2011 study by a team from Peking University and the London School of Hygiene found that, of 1.5 million births in China between 1996 and 2008, babies born in hospitals were two to three times less likely to die. China is at a similar stage in its evolutionary cycle to the developed world at the beginning of the 20th century. The move to hospitals there looks inevitable. Something similar is happening in most Developing Nations.In his book A History of Women's Bodies, Edward Shorter quotes a doctor describing a birth in a working-class home in the 1920s:You find a bed that has been slept on by the husband, wife and one or two children; it has frequently been soaked with urine, the sheets are dirty, and the patient's garments are soiled, she has not had a bath. Instead of sterile dressings you have a few old rags or the discharges are allowed to soak into a nightdress which is not changed for days.For comparison, he describes a 1920s hospital birth:The mother lies in a well-aired disinfected room, light and sunlight stream unhindered through a high window and you can make it light as day electrically too. She is well bathed and freshly clothed on linen sheets of blinding whiteness . . . You have a staff of assistants who respond to every signal . . . Only those who have to repair a perineum in a cottars's house in a cottar's bed with the poor light and help at hand can realize the joy.Most homes in the developed world are no longer as he describes, if they ever were, except in slums. It would seem the evolution in the way we give birth as a country develops passes from the home to the hospital. It is time to take it away from the hospital.Why am I spending so much time on birth in a book about economics? The process of giving birth is yet another manifestation of this culture of pervasive state intervention. (Hospitals, of course, are mostly state run.) It's another example of something that feels safer, if provided by the state in a hospital, even if the evidence is to the contrary. And it's another example of the state destroying for so many something that is beautiful and wonderful.What's more, like so many things that are state-run, hospital birth is needlessly expensive. The November 2011 study of 65,000 mothers by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit looked at the average costs of birth in the NHS. They were highest for planned obstetric unit births and lowest for planned home-births. Here they are:* £1,631 (c. $2,600) for a planned birth in an obstetric unit * £1,461 (c. $2,340 for a planned birth in an alongside midwifery unit (AMU)* £1,435 (c. $2,300) for a planned birth in a free-standing midwifery unit (FMU)* £1,067 (c. $1,700) for a planned home-birth.Not only is it as safe; not only are people more satisfied by it; not only do the recipients receive more one-to-one – i.e. better – care; home-birth is also 35% cheaper. Intervention is expensive.So I return to this theme of non-intervention, whether in hospitals or economies. It often looks cruel, callous and hard-hearted; it often looks unsafe, but, counter-intuitively perhaps, in the end it is more human and more humane.When you look at the cost of private birth, the argument for home-birth is even more compelling. Private maternity care is expensive. For example, in summer 2012, a first birth at the Portland Hospital in London costs £2,880 (about $4,400) for a normal delivery and £3,790 (about $5,685) for an elective caesarean and for the first 24 hours of care. Additional nights in a standard room cost around £1,000 (about $1,500). You also have to allow for the fees charged by your private consultant obstetrician, which might be £3,000–£4,000 ($4,500– $6,000). So, in total, a private birth at a hospital such as the Portland could cost £7,500–£10,000 ($10–$15,000). There will be some saving if you opt for a ‘midwife-led delivery service' or ‘midwife-led care'. In this instance, you will still have a named obstetrician, but he or she will see you less often, and the birth may be ‘supported by an on-call Consultant Obstetrician'. London midwives charge £2,500–£4,000 (c. $4–6,000) for about six months of care from early pregnancy to a month after birth. The comparative value is astounding, I would say.To have a planned home-birth on the NHS is possible, but can be problematic to arrange, depending on where you are based. Most people, after they have paid taxes, do not now have the funds to buy a private home-birth, so they are forced into the arms of government health care, such is the cycle at work.I was first introduced to the idea of home-birth by my ex-wife, Louisa, something for which I will forever be grateful. She hated hospitals due to an earlier experience in her life and only found out about alternatives thanks to the internet. I, as well as my friends and family, thought Louisa was insane. But she insisted. And she was right to.Our first son was actually two weeks and six days late. Because he was so late, we were obliged to go to the hospital, which we did, after two weeks and five days. We were kept waiting so long in there, we decided to go and persuaded an overworked nurse that we were fine to go and we left. The confused nurse was glad to have one less thing to think about. The next day Samuel was born: a beautiful and wonderful experience that I will never forget, one of the happiest days of my life – exactly as nature intended.Simply talking to people that have experienced both home-birth and hospital birth, or reading about their experiences, the anecdotal evidence is compelling. Home-birth may not be for everyone – I'm not suggesting it is. Birthing centres seem a good way forward. But a hospital birth should only be for emergencies. Childbirth is a natural process that no longer requires hospitalization, except in those 1% of situations where something goes seriously wrong. If it does go wrong and there is an emergency, call an ambulance and be taken to hospital – that is what they are for.Returning to the original premise of Natural and Positive Law, it's pretty clear which category hospital birth falls into. Hospitals do things in the way that they do because of the pressures they are under, not least the threat of legal action should some procedural failure occur. Taking birth back home and away from the state reduces the burden of us on it and of it on us.Life After the State - Why We Don't Need Government (2013) is now back in print - with the audiobook here: Audible UK, Audible US, Apple Books. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe

L’anoressia nervosa nei maschi è sottostimata. Questo è quanto evidenzia un nuovo studio pubblicato su Canadian Medical Association Journal che commentiamo a Obiettivo Salute con il prof. Leonardo Mendolicchio, psichiatra, psicoanalista, direttore responsabile della U.O. Riabilitazione dei Disturbi Alimentari e della Nutrizione presso Auxologico Piancavallo, in provincia di Verbania e autore di “Fragili” (Solferino)

Dr Raj Bhardwaj, our CBC medical columnist, says back pain is one of the most common complaints that brings people to the doctor's office.

Selon des données publiées dans le Canadian Medical Association Journal, le nombre de Québécois prêts à faire un don d'organes après avoir bénéficié de l'aide médicale à mourir est en hausse. En 2022, 14% des donneurs d'organes ont opté pour cette intervention.   Entrevue avec Dr. Alain Naud, médecin de famille et médecin en soins palliatifs au CHU de Québec-Université Laval.Pour de l'information concernant l'utilisation de vos données personnelles - https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener/fr

More and more Canadians are unable to access public primary healthcare, according to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal at the beginning of December. In fact, about 20% of Canadians have no family doctor at all, and many more have irregular access to clinicians. The CMAJ study compares the Canadian primary care system with New Zealand and eight countries in Europe including France, Germany, Italy and the UK. Dr Tara Kiran is the senior author of the study and a family physician and scientist at St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto.

A growing number of Canadians are choosing medically-assisted death. Last year, more than 13,000 Canadians used the program — a 31 per cent increase over the year prior. Matt Galloway discusses why more Canadians are choosing medically-assisted death, with Dr. Michel Bureau, the head of Quebec's commission on end-of-life care; and Dr. James Downar, a physician who heads the University of Ottawa's palliative care division, and the co-author of a recent study for the Canadian Medical Association Journal that looked at who gets MAID and why.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, FRIENDS! This week Your Doctor Friends are doling out TWO episodes of spoooooky stories and hair-raising health headlines! Each episode contains a "sharing size" story with a little "fun-sized" article at the end! Today we start with the (maybe not-so-scientific) connection between the full moon and erratic behavior (if there really is one...). We dive into the origins of this widely-held belief that the full moon triggers weird demeanor, and what the studies suggest may be closer to the truth. At the end Jeremy explains the health benefits of eating actual pumpkin! Stay tuned for another eerie episode this Thursday, November 2nd (the end of the Dia de los Muertos!) for another bag of treats! Happy Healthy Haunting, y'all! Resources for this episode include: A Canadian Medical Association Journal article titled "Bad Moon Rising: the persistent belief in lunar connections to madness." A 1985 Psychological Bulletin journal article by Rotton and Kelly titled "Much ado about the full moon: a meta-analysis of lunar-lunacy research." A study published in the World Journal of Surgery investigating full moons, zodiac signs, and Fridays the 13th and their relationships (or lack thereof) to emergency operations and intraoperative blood loss. A Scientific American article titled "Lunacy and the Full Moon. Does a full moon really trigger strange behavior?" A New York Times article on the health benefits of eating pumpkin! For more episodes, limited edition merch, or to become a Friend of Your Doctor Friends (and more), follow this link! This includes the famous "Advice from the last generation of doctors that inhaled lead" shirt :) Also, CHECK OUT AMAZING HEALTH PODCASTS on The Health Podcast Network   Find us at: Website: yourdoctorfriendspodcast.com  Email: yourdoctorfriendspodcast@gmail.com    Call the DOCLINE on 312-380-5005 and leave us a message. We will listen and maybe even respond/play it on the show!   (Disclaimer: we will not answer specific medical questions or offer medical advice. Consult your healthcare professional with any and all personal health questions.)   Connect with us: @your_doctor_friends (IG) @yourdoctorfriendspodcast1013 (YouTube) @JeremyAllandMD (IG, FB, Twitter) @JuliaBrueneMD (IG) @HealthPodNet (IG)

House doctor Raj Bhardwaj highlights a report published this month in the Canadian Medical Association Journal looked at outcomes related to the change.

A paper published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal is calling for the expansion and further research of using prescription stimulants to treat harm reduction. Guest: Dr. Scott MacDonald - a physician at Providence Health Care's Crosstown Clinic, co-authored the article 

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're not phoning it in before the long weekend. There are some very serious issues that we need to shed a light on, including that was-it-a-coup-attempt in Russia last weekend that might have changed the game. And speaking of changing the game, is Canada about to be serviced by one big newspaper company? What about the fate of local news? In the back half of the show, nothing major, just the state of our emergency rooms in Canada. This Thursday, June 29, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: The Man Who Coup Too Much. Over the weekend, the mercenary Wagner Group marched across Russia towards Moscow in what looked like the opening moves of a coup d'état and then, just as swiftly as it began, Wagner's leader (and former hot dog peddler) Yevgeny Prigozhin decided to call the whole thing off. So what happened? Are we really supposed to believe that Vladimir Putin's favourite puppet Aleksandr Lukashenko brokered a deal? And what happens next on the frontlines in Ukraine? Stop Local. A little more than a week after they cut 1,300 jobs and shuttered bureaus around the world, Bell Media sent a letter to the CRTC asking them to review the requirement to have their local TV stations produce local news. These requirements have existed since the dawn of commercial television, but now Bell thinks that local news is a lemon that they want to get rid of. Following Bill C-18, and the announcement that the Toronto Star maybe merging with Postmedia, can anything save local news? The Old Department. It's been one of the worst kept secrets that emergency departments at Canada's hospitals are in trouble. COVID-19 turbo charged the issues they were facing, and in a post-COVID world, hospitals are dealing with staff burnout coupled with constant high levels of activity that fall outside the normal patterns. Then, last week, Dr. Catherine Varner wrote in the Canadian Medical Association Journal that not only are the problems in Canada's E.R.'s persistent, they're going to continue for the foreseeable future. She's going to tell is all about why. Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

Dr. Andrew Pinto , the lead author of the commentary published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal discusses how collecting race based data is important to address inequities especially in the health care sector.

Guidelines hold great importance in pain medicine. With many interventional procedures, there is some evidence for efficacy, but wide variation in study results due to differences in technique, interpretation, and implementation. In this month's RAPM Focus, Executive Editor Chad Brummett, MD, joins Steven Cohen, MD, the senior author of “Consensus practice guidelines on interventions for cervical spine (facet) joint pain from a multispecialty international working group,” first published in November 2021 (https://rapm.bmj.com/content/47/1/3). These guidelines are a valuable resource for trainees, fellows, and anyone who works with them. Dr. Steven Cohen is a professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine, neurology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Baltimore, MD. He is also chief of pain medicine and director of pain operations at Johns Hopkins and director of pain research at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He has published over 400 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in journals such as Lancet, JAMA, BMJ, Canadian Medical Association Journal, Anesthesiology, Pain, and The New England Journal of Medicine. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Cohen is a retired colonel in the United States Army. *The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. The content of this podcast does not constitute medical advice, and it is not intended to function as a substitute for a healthcare practitioner's judgement, patient care, or treatment. The views expressed by contributors are those of the speakers. BMJ does not endorse any views or recommendations discussed or expressed on this podcast. Listeners should also be aware that professionals in the field may have different opinions. By listening to this podcast, listeners agree not to use its content as the basis for their own medical treatment or for the medical treatment of others. Podcast and music produced by Dan Langa. Find us on Twitter @RAPMOnline.

Why it's important to use exercise for optional bone, muscle, and joint health. If you are using exercise for just fat loss alone, hopefully, this podcast will help you change your mindset to start choosing an exercise program that your 80-year-old self will thank you for!   References:  Exercise and physical activity – your everyday guide from the National Institute on Aging, National Institute on Aging, USA.  Aging changes in the bones – muscles – joints, University of Maryland Medical Center, USA.  The benefits of exercise, Centre for Physical Activity in Ageing, Royal Adelaide Hospital Health Services, South Australian Government. More information here.  Warburton, DER, Nicol CW, Bredin SSD 2006, ‘Health benefits of physical activity: the evidence', Canadian Medical Association Journal, vol. 174, no. 6, pp. 801–809. More information here.  Nelson ME, Rejeski WJ, Blair SN et al, 2007, ‘Physical activity and public health in older adults: Recommendation from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association', Med Science Sports Exercise, vol. 39, no. 8, pp. 1435–1445. More information here.  Active for later life: Promoting physical activity with older people, British Heart Foundation National Centre for Physical Activity and Health, UK.

The resurgence of RSV is a situation several Canadian scientists warned about in a commentary published over a year ago in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Dr. Joanne Langley was one of the authors, she's a pediatric infectious disease physician at the IWK Health Centre and a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University.

Nova Scotian nurse Keisha Jeffries recently had her research published in a special edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, which focuses on Black health. Her study explored the experiences of African Nova Scotian nurses, particularly around leadership in the sector.

A conversation with the researcher behind a recent article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal called "Gaslighting in academic medicine: where anti-Black racism lives." Dr. Gaynor Watson-Creed explains how gaslighting perpetuates anti-Black racism in medicine.

Keisha Jeffries recently had her PhD research published in a special edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, which focused on Black health. The study documents the experiences of African Nova Scotian nurses, their barriers to entering the profession, and their experiences of leadership.

This week we got to peek behind the curtains of academic publishing with Wendy Carroll. Wendy is the Managing Editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal group. Wendy had some amazing insights into the whole process of what goes on with the submission process as well as the overall landscape for journals in 2022. Perhaps our favorite part of our conversation with Wendy was her tips about what makes for good writing! Links: 1. Eight Step editing: https://www.editors.ca/eight-step-editing-jim-taylor-0 2. Predatory publishing solicitation: a review of a single surgeon's inbox and implications for information technology resources at an organizational level. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34105930/

Are the unvaccinated a threat to those who've been jabbed? A recent paper in the Canadian Medical Association Journal is creating a storm of controversy for making that claim amid criticisms of methodological flaws fuelling a major debate. Dr. Byram Bridle and Dr. Denis Rancourt join Trish to ponder a paper some say goes too far. Support Trish on Patreon Find her on Twitter

Lydia Kang is an author of young adult fiction, adult fiction and non-fiction, and poetry. She graduated from Columbia University and New York University School of Medicine, completing her residency and chief residency at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. She is a practicing physician who has gained a reputation for helping fellow writers achieve medical accuracy in fiction. Her poetry and non-fiction have been published in JAMA, The Annals of Internal Medicine, Canadian Medical Association Journal, Journal of General Internal Medicine, and Great Weather for Media. She believes in science and knocking on wood, and currently lives in Omaha with her husband and three children.This episode includes a brief mention of a fictional character's suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

Could annual dramatic shifts in day/night patterns in the Arctic have an effect on seizures? One researcher went looking for answers – and found more than he bargained for. His research revealed a public health crisis in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, highlighting the needs of geographically isolated communities and Indigenous peoples. (He also found intriguing results to his original question.)  Dr. Marcus Ng reviewed 11 years of data on emergency evacuations from the Kivalliq region of northern Canada. There, anyone who has seizures that last more than 5 minutes - an emergency condition known as status epilepticus - is helicoptered to a single hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Dr. Ng wondered if the frequency of evacuations changed as the seasons changed. Were people more likely to have seizures in the 24-hour darkness of winter, the 24-hour daylight of summer, or somewhere in between? He found that the people of the Kivalliq region had the highest reported incidence of status epilepticus in the world, far higher than Canada's overall estimates. His research also revealed the barriers to timely care faced by this population.  This episode was reported and produced by Nancy Volkers. Sharp Waves content is meant for informational purposes only and not as medical or clinical advice. The International League Against Epilepsy is the world's preeminent association of health professionals and scientists, working toward a world where no person's life is limited by epilepsy. Visit us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  Studies mentioned or used as sources of information:  Status epilepticus in the Canadian Arctic: A public health imperative hidden in plain sight. Epilepsia Open 2021Circannual incidence of seizure evacuations from the Canadian Arctic. Epilepsy & Behavior 2022 Incidence of the different stages of status epilepticus in Eastern Finland: A population-based study. Epilepsy & Behavior 2019 Addressing provider turnover to improve health outcomes in Nunavut. Canadian Medical Association Journal 2019 Contact ILAE with feedback or episode ideas at podcast@ilae.org Support the showSharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only, and not as clinical or medical advice.The International League Against Epilepsy is the world's preeminent association of health professionals and scientists, working toward a world where no person's life is limited by epilepsy. Visit us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Fan of the show? https://www.patreon.com/newleftradio (Support us on Patreon)! Infant food insecurity. In Canada. In 2022. Author and academic, Lesley Frank joins us to discuss her research and book, Out of Milk, Infant Food Insecurity in a Rich Nation. Why is it that the most vulnerable among us go hungry in one of the wealthiest nations in the world? How deep does the problem go? What can be done about it? About Out of Milk: Infant Food Insecurity in a Rich Nation “Did you ever go to bed and wonder if your child was getting enough to eat?” For food insecure mothers, the worry is constant, and babies are at risk of going hungry. Out of Milk calls out the pressing need to establish the economic and social conditions necessary for successful breastfeeding and for accessible, reliable, and safe formula feeding for families everywhere. Through compelling interviews, Lesley Frank answers the breastfeeding paradox: why women who can least afford to buy infant formula are less likely to breastfeed. She reveals that what and how infants are fed is linked to the social and economic status of those who feed them. Out of Milk uncovers the shocking reality of food insecurity for formula-fed babies, the economic and social constraints limiting mothers' ability to breastfeed, and the lengths to which mothers must go to provide for their children. But in a country that leaves the problem of food insecurity to ineffective charity models, public policies are failing to support our most vulnerable populations. This book is important reading for health practitioners, social workers, community agency workers, and policymakers involved with food insecurity, infant feeding, poverty, social welfare, health, or food policy. It is also essential for students and scholars in sociologies of health, food, family; nutrition; food studies; nursing, public/social policy; and women's and gender studies. https://www.ubcpress.ca/out-of-milk (Buy Out of Milk now) About Lesley Frank Lesley Frank is the Canada Research Chair in Food, Health, and Social Justice at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. She is a leading scholar of infant food insecurity in Canada, with publications in the journals Food, Culture and Society; Food and Foodways; Canadian Food Studies; and the Canadian Medical Association Journal. She is the author of the annual Nova Scotia Family and Child Poverty Report Card and a steering member of Campaign 2000, a cross-Canada public education movement that works to increase public awareness of the levels and consequences of child and family poverty. Her work has been featured on CBC's The Current. https://twitter.com/FranklyLess?s=20&t=Npe2iyJQH4UJcqLmZdfOpg (Follow Lesley Frank on Twitter) Stay connected with the latest from New Left Radio by https://newleft.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8227a4372fe8dc22bdbf0e3db&id=e99d6c70b4 (joining our mailing list) today! _________

In Podcast Episode #1091, Marc Abrahams shows an unfamiliar research study to psycholinguist Jean Berko Gleason. Dramatic readings and reactions ensue. Remember, our Patreon donors, on most levels, get access to each podcast episode before it is made public. Jean Berko Gleason encounters: “Hula-Hoop Syndrome,” Zafar H. Zaidi, Canadian Medical Association Journal, vol. 80, no. 9, May 1, 1959, pp. 715-716. Seth Gliksman, Production Assistant --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/improbableresearch/support

In this episode, Amie and Sara talk pain management with the Canadian Medical Association President-Elect Dr. Alika Lafontaine.  We discuss the subjectivity and management of pain in racialized communities and marginalized individuals. We focus on issues related to pain from the perspectives of the care provider and the patient. We also outline practical approaches and tangible solutions on how healthcare providers can improve their assessment, approach and understanding of pain management. This episode is a tool everyone should have in their healthcare toolkit.  Dr. Lafontaine is an award-winning physician who practises anesthesia in Grande Prairie, Alberta. He was born and raised in Treaty 4 Territory (Southern Saskatchewan) and has Anishinaabe, Cree, Metis and Pacific Islander ancestry. Pending confirmation of his nomination by CMA General Council this August, Dr. Lafontaine will serve as president-elect until August 2022, when he will become CMA president.  Dr. Alika Lafontaine is the first Indigenous doctor listed in Medical Post's 50 Most Powerful Doctors. He was born and raised in Treaty 4 Territory (Southern Saskatchewan) and has Anishinaabe, Cree, Metis and Pacific Islander ancestry. He currently lives, works and plays in Treaty 8 Territory in Northern Alberta. Dr. Lafontaine has served in medical leadership positions for almost two decades. Alberta Medical Association: representative forum (since 2012), nominations committee, Indigenous health committee, current board member. Canadian Medical Association: Alberta AGM delegate, appointments committee, Chair governance council Canadian Medical Association Journal. Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada: Indigenous health advisory committee, search/selection subcommittees, Chair regional advisory committee (western provinces), current council member. HealthCareCAN: current board member. Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada: vice-President and President. Lead and core team member of various Indigenous and non-Indigenous health transformations within Saskatchewan, Alberta and nationally. From 2013-2017 Dr. Lafontaine co-led the Indigenous Health Alliance project, one of the most ambitious health transformation initiatives in Canadian history. Led politically by Indigenous leadership representing more than 150 First Nations across three provinces, the Alliance successfully advocated for $68 million of federal funding towards Indigenous health transformation within Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. He was recognized for his work in the Alliance by the Public Policy Forum where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau presented the award. Dr. Lafontaine is also a past recipient of the Canadian Medical Association Award for Young Leaders (Early Career) and the Canadian Medical Association Sir Charles Tupper Award for Political Action. He remains the youngest recipient of the Indspire Award, the highest honour the Indigenous community bestows upon its own people. In 2020, Dr. Lafontaine launched the Safespace Networks project with friendship centres across British Columbia. Safespace Networks provides a safe and anonymous workflow to report and identify patterns of care; patients and providers use the platform to share their own experiences and contribute to system change without the risk of retaliation for sharing their truths. It provides a learning system approach for identifying and intervening in issues with patterns of practice anonymously, before they become official concerns or complaints. Dr. Lafontaine continues to practise anesthesia in Grande Prairie, where he has lived with his wife and four children for the last ten years. Twitter @AlikaMD

Host: Matthew Sorrentino, MD Guest: Laetitia Guillemette, MSc, PhD Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the United States and may impact young adults earlier than we think. Maybe even before they're born. Joining Dr. Matthew Sorrentino is Dr. Laetitia Guillemette, who discusses her study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal investigating the relationship between exposure to diabetes in the womb and heart disease in young adults and teenagers.

Hello everyone and welcome to the Mouse Club! This week I am talking all about the different fan theories about Winnie the Pooh characters being representative of different mental health issues and struggles. I researched two primary theories which were from the Canadian Medical Association Journal and from Valentina Stoycheva from Psychology Today and I really enjoyed Valentina's theory that rather than representing different Mental Illnesses, the Winnie the Pooh characters are rather a subconscious method by the author to personify his experiences with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from World War 1. I hope that you all enjoy and let me know what you think about these theories as well! Check us out on Instagram: Instagram.com/themouseclubpodcast About the Host: Instagram: Instagram.com/littlemrsmariss YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQED9xEETLe_FCkW3ZosxZA --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Dr. Karen Bosma, London Health Sciences Centre and lead author of the report published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal talks about first case of near-fatal vaping related injury in Canada

Could cancer be a contagious disease? Although this possibility might seem surprising to many of us, it has a long history. In fact, efforts to develop a cancer vaccine drew more money than the Human Genome Project. In his first book, MIT historian of science Robin Wolfe Scheffler takes readers through the twists and turns of the American effort to identify human cancer viruses— a search which made fundamental contributions to molecular biology. In this podcast, we discuss how this was an effort which raises fundamental questions regarding how we think about disease in the laboratory and the legislature. Dr. Robin Scheffler's book is called A Contagious Cause: The American Hunt for Cancer Viruses and the Rise of Molecular Medicine(University of Chicago Press, 2019). Dr. Dorian Deshauer is a psychiatrist, historian, and assistant professor at the University of Toronto. He is associate editor for the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Canada's leading peer-reviewed general medical journal and is one of the hosts of CMAJ Podcasts, a medical podcast for doctors and researchers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Traditionally we've run at least 2 troponins 6 or 8 hours apart to help rule out MI and recently in algorithms like the HEART score we've combined clinical data with a 2 or 3 hour delta troponin to help rule out MI. The paper we'll be discussing here is a multicentre/multinantional study from the Canadian Medical Association Journal from this year out of Switzerland entitled "Prospective validation of a 1 hour algorithm to rule out and rule in acute myocardial infarction using a high sensitivity cardian troponin T assay" with lead author Tobias Reichlin. It not only looks at whether or not we can rule out MI using a delta troponin at only 1 hour but whether or not we can expedite the ruling in of MI using this protocol. The post Journal Jam 5 One Hour Troponin to Rule Out and In MI appeared first on Emergency Medicine Cases.